


The Universe Has Its Own Plan

by yarnandtea



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s10e03 The Pegasus Project, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-26
Updated: 2012-09-26
Packaged: 2017-11-15 03:05:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/522454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarnandtea/pseuds/yarnandtea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>McKay wasn't about to let a threat of citrus go so lightly, but when he went to confront Mitchell, he found the man had other plans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Universe Has Its Own Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Tag for SG-1 episode "The Pegasus Project," so spoilers for that episode. Implied future McShep. This was me working my way up to true smut, so...yeah. (Originally posted on Wraithbait in 2006 under the name dragonlady.)

Rodney McKay was pissed, there was no other word for it…well, maybe furious.  Furious was good too.  It had taken a few hours for the feeling to really kick in but now that it had he knew he had to do something about it, and soon. The _Odyssey_  was scheduled to depart first thing in the morning and he wouldn’t have a chance to act once the ship left Atlantis.  A little voice in the back of his head, the one that sounded eerily like Sheppard, told him that maybe he should just turn around now, go find Zelenka and work on those power conversions until he cooled off.  With any luck by the time he was able to collect himself the  _Odyssey_  would be gone and he wouldn’t have a chance to act on his idiotic—the Sheppard-voice’s wording, not his—plan.  Instead, Rodney continued pacing outside of the guest quarters the subject of his ire was currently holed up in.  He wanted to work up a good head of steam before going through with this.

Alas it wasn’t to be so.  Why did the universe never pay attention to his plans?  Seriously, this was getting a bit ridiculous.  As he was mentally going over his rant one more time the door to the quarters slid open to reveal an entirely too unsurprised-looking Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell.  Taking in the other man’s obvious state of agitation Mitchell quirked a small smile and then hid it before Rodney could notice. 

“McKay, what a…surprise.”  The drawl stopped Rodney mid-pace and he looked up to find Mitchell smirking at him.  His fingers twitched, like he was contemplating throwing a punch.  Instead he crossed his arms over his chest and raised his chin, defying the colonel on principle.  Mitchell continued, “Well, since you’re here, might as well come on in.”  He stepped back and raised an eyebrow at Rodney, who scowled and followed him back into the room, jumping slightly as the door snicked shut behind them.  Mitchell ambled over to his bed and flopped down on his back, propping himself up with his elbows.  “So, to what do I owe this visit?”  He smirked at Rodney some more, just for the hell of it.

Rodney, for his part, glared back with the ferocity of a threatened dragon.  “Hrmph.”  Arms still crossed, he took a final moment to reorganize his thoughts before launching them verbally.  “Colonel Mitchell, I just wanted to ensure that you leave the Pegasus galaxy with absolutely no doubt in your mind regarding how I feel about your actions today on board the  _Odyssey_.  Certainly, in the end, the desired result was achieved, surpassed, even, what with the destruction of both a Wraith hive ship and the Ori vessel.  However, your methods of ensuring a successful mission leave much to be desired.”  As he spoke his arms waved about frantically.  His sentences were punctuated with pointing, fingers aimed at the ceiling, at the wall, at Mitchell.  The colonel gazed at Rodney placidly, doing a decent job of hiding his amusement.  Rodney paused for a breath and Mitchell gestured for him to continue.  “I realize you haven’t been in charge of SG-1 for very long, but I can scarcely believe that General O’Neill wouldn’t have mentioned how critical it is to show your scientific staff the respect they deserve.  I can only assume that Carter puts up with you because she respects your record as a member of the Air Force and the fact that you were handpicked by O’Neill.  Frankly I’m amazed Dr. Jackson gives you the time of day.”  As he finished he took up the familiar stance of arms crossed, chin lifted.

“That it?”

“Yes.  I-well, what?”

“Is that it?”  Mitchell pronounced each word slowly.  “You came to my quarters, paced outside for half an hour, and then came in just to tell me you think I’m a crappy leader because I threatened you with a lemon—up until which point, might I remind you, you were refusing to do what was necessary to get the job done.”  Eyebrows quirked, Mitchell watched Rodney waiting for a reaction.  He let the edges of his smile start to show as Rodney stared at him.  Just as the other man opened his mouth to reply Mitchell cut him off to continue.  “Cause I gotta tell you McKay, like you said, we got the job done, and then some.  I can’t help it if you took a little extra motivation.  I didn’t actually use the lemon, did I?  It’s not like I would have let you get hurt.  Besides, I got the lemon from Sheppard, and you seem to have no problem at all following his lead.”

“Hmph.  That’s hardly the same thing.”  Clearly flustered, Rodney dropped his arms and wandered over to sit in the chair next to the bed. “Sheppard and I are friends; we’ve been through life and death situations with each other.  We’ve earned each other’s trust.  Just because he made a joke and handed you a lemon didn’t mean you had to go and actually  _use_  it.”  He was caught up enough in his justification that he didn’t register when Mitchell hooked his ankle around the leg of the chair and pulled it closer to the bed. 

“Right.  Exactly, he’s on your team, you know him and you trust him.  He earned that trust.  Do you think I would have been able to convince my team to come back to SG-1 and actually  _be_  my team if I hadn’t proved myself to them the same way?”  His tone was still casual but Rodney could sense how serious he was about what he was saying.  Mitchell sat up and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, considerably shortening the distance between the two men.  Rodney blinked at him.  “Besides, as you’ve said, Sheppard’s your friend.  Do you really believe he would have told me about your allergy if he thought for even a second that I would let any harm come to you?  Do you think he would have let you go on the mission without him if he didn’t trust me too?”

“Oh.  Um, right.  Okay, that’s a good point.”  Rodney still seemed unaware of how close Mitchell had gotten.  After a moment’s thought he narrowed his eyes and said, “I’m still mad at you though.”  He didn’t know what reaction he had expected Mitchell to give, and while the deep belly laugh could have been predicted, there is no way he would have thought Mitchell would close the distance between them and kiss him. 

“I would expect nothing less.”  He pulled back and grinned, his hand on the back of Rodney’s neck.  For a moment he hesitated, taking in the way Rodney’s eyes had widened like the proverbial deer noticing the headlights.  When no outburst appeared to be forthcoming he smiled and pulled the other man in for a second, longer kiss. 

As far as Mitchell was concerned things were going swimmingly until Rodney’s brain kicked into gear and he jerked back, attempting to jump out of his chair.  He was merely successful in knocking the chair over and almost going down with it as his legs got tangled with those on the chair.  Mitchell grabbed his arm to keep him from falling and Rodney pulled it out of his grasp as if burned.

“What the _hell_  Colonel?”  

Mitchell heaved a sigh and leaned back on his elbows once more, putting some space between himself and the now very jumpy physicist.  Rodney was about to launch into rant mode again, he could sense it.  He needed to nip this in the bud before it could reach the level of “disastrous.” 

“Sorry McKay, it couldn’t be helped.” 

“It couldn’t be  _helped_?  That’s what you’re going with here?  Because I have to tell you Colonel, going around kissing male geniuses is probably the sort of urge a male Air Force colonel should be curbing.  Unless it’s just genius in general you’re attracted to—“ Rodney paused, noticing the look in Mitchell’s eyes at this.  “Oh God, it is genius in general.  You’re sleeping with Carter too, aren’t you?  No wonder you wouldn’t let me be alone with her today!  You’re trying to hog the brilliance for yourself!”  Mitchell rolled his eyes and pushed himself off of the bed, stalking towards the corner of the room Rodney had retreated to. 

“First off, I am  _not_  sleeping with Carter.  She’s on my team and under my command and that’s just not going to happen.  I wouldn’t let you be alone with Carter because you tend to bring out her homicidal urges and she, for one, isn’t really attracted to you.  Besides,” he had closed the distance once more and rested his hands on Rodney’s shoulders, “blondes never really did do much for me.”

“Well they do a  _lot_  for me, if you hadn’t noticed.  And what do you mean Carter isn’t attracted to me?  Of course she is!  She just doesn’t want to admit it because I’m smarter than her and that pisses her off.  She’s too stubborn to see a good thing when it presents itself,” he realized Mitchell was pulling him in for another kiss, and that insufferable confident grin was back on his face.  Rodney jumped back again, irked when Mitchell came with, his hands still on the scientist’s shoulders.  “Obviously this isn’t a problem you face; I can see that, clearly you’re a man of at least some taste.”  He was starting to panic, just a bit.  “But what the hell makes you think male Air Force officers do anything for _me_?  Am I giving off some vibe I’m not aware of, because, really, that’s something I need to know about so I can put a stop to it, and oh God, you’re going to kiss me again, aren’t you?”

“Would it really be a problem if I did?” 

The grin was gone now and the serious face was back.  Rodney took in Mitchell’s expression and as their eyes locked it clicked.  He got it.  During the mission Mitchell had a job to do and he was all business.  He wouldn’t have let anyone get away with doing less than their best.  But the mission was over, goal accomplished, and here and now Mitchell had seen something he wanted and decided to go for it.  More than that, Mitchell was trusting Rodney.  If Rodney turned him down and decided to report him, that was it for Mitchell, game over.  No more SG-1, no more Air Force.  This was clearly just a one-time thing, but it was still a big deal.  Of course, there was also the part of his brain, which, weirdly enough, was the Sheppard-voice part, that was telling him how nice it had felt to be kissed by Mitchell and suggesting that freaking out probably wasn’t the best course of action here.  There were much more enjoyable paths he could take. 

“Hmm, no I don’t suppose it would be a problem, at that.”  And then Rodney was the one kissing Mitchell.  The kiss was hard and dirty and as Mitchell moaned into his mouth in response Rodney couldn't stop his own smirk from forming. 

The kissing continued and the two men moved back towards the bed.  They used their hands and mouths to explore each other’s bodies, mapping out and exploiting each sensitive spot as it was located.  Rodney found himself naked on Mitchell’s bed and then Mitchell was there too, also naked, and heavy on top of him.  He felt like he couldn’t get close enough to the other man.  They lay tangled together, bodies thrusting, sweaty and amazing and right.  Rodney realized with some shock that he had never been so turned on his life.  If he hadn’t been so completely preoccupied with the fantastic sex this might have bothered him, but in the end he decided just to go with it and enjoy the moment while it lasted.

Afterwards they didn’t speak.  The silence wasn’t even awkward, which was admittedly a rare event in the life of Rodney McKay.  Instead Mitchell wrapped his arm around Rodney’s waist and spooned behind him.   With his head in the crook of Rodney’s neck they drifted off into satisfied slumber.

Rodney woke up alone the next morning with no sign of Mitchell to be found, and somehow that felt right too.  He could hear his radio buzzing on the floor and he fished it out of the pile that was yesterday’s outfit.  After letting Elizabeth chastise him for not turning up to send off the  _Odyssey_ , he promised he wouldn’t be late for the senior staff meeting and turned his attention towards getting cleaned up and starting the day.

~*~

Sheppard gave Rodney a weird look when he arrived at the staff meeting but Rodney brushed it off and promptly forgot about it until later that day when Sheppard found him in his lab.

“So…” Sheppard drawled, leaning against the table at which Rodney was working, “how did Colonel Carter enjoy her visit to Atlantis?”  Rodney’s fingers paused in their dance across his keyboard and he shot a puzzled glance at his friend.

“I have no idea.  I assume she’s satisfied that the mission was a success.  It’s not like she really got to see the sights while she was here.  Why are you asking me, anyway?”

“Oh, I just figured you two would have talked a little.  I stopped by your quarters last night to see if you wanted to watch a movie or something and you weren’t there and you weren’t in your lab so I figured you were with Carter.  I mean, you’re always going on about her…”  Sheppard had straightened from his slouch and was looking anywhere but at Rodney.  Rodney’s brow furrowed and it took a moment for him to realize what Sheppard was getting at. 

“Oh!”  His eyebrows shot up and his eyes went wide.  “You think I spent the night with Carter?”  Sheppard stiffened, almost imperceptibly, if Rodney hadn’t been looking at him so intently he would have missed it.  “Um, no, no, that’s not, it’s not like…look, Sheppard,” Rodney glanced around and lowered his voice, making sure no one else could hear his next words.  “Sam and I, as much as I would like to believe otherwise, it’s never going to happen.  I’m pretty sure she has someone back on Earth, and sadly I don’t think she’s the kind of person who could deal with someone of equal or greater intelligence anyway, so…no, I didn’t spend the night with Carter.”

“Oh!  Sorry, buddy, I didn’t mean to imply anything.  I guess that’s what I get for assuming, huh?”  Rodney couldn’t help but notice that Sheppard certainly didn’t look sorry.  His smile had doubled in wattage at Rodney’s confession.  “Between you and me, she kind of seemed like a know-it-all anyway,” Sheppard went on, “I think you could do better.”  He looked down briefly at the last bit and when his eyes met Rodney’s again he was back to what passed for normal Sheppard.  “So, do you think you’d be up for a movie tonight then?” 

“Um, I have some work to catch up on today, but I could probably take a break later this evening.  Why don’t you swing by and remind me after dinner time?” 

“Great!  I’ll see you then!”  Sheppard patted Rodney on the shoulder and strolled out of the lab, looking considerably happier than when he had entered.  Rodney was left shaking his head and wondering at how quickly his world had changed.  If he hadn’t known better he would be certain Sheppard had been jealous at the thought of Rodney sleeping with Carter.  He couldn’t help but wonder what Sheppard’s reaction would have been if Rodney had told him who he actually  _had_  spent the night with.

“Huh,” he muttered to himself, returning to his work.  Maybe he would need to reconsider his stance on male Air Force officers after all, or at least his stance on one more male Air Force officer. 

**End**


End file.
